


Always Wakeful

by glassonion_archivist



Category: Earthsea - Ursula K. Le Guin
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2004-02-14
Updated: 2004-02-14
Packaged: 2019-06-19 11:44:56
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 440
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15509193
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/glassonion_archivist/pseuds/glassonion_archivist
Summary: "Old age is always wakeful; as if, the longer linked with life, the less man has to do with aught that looks like death." Moby Dick, Herman Melville





	Always Wakeful

**Author's Note:**

> Note from alice ttlg, the archivist: this story was originally archived at [Glass Onion](http://fanlore.org/wiki/The_Glass_Onion), and was moved to the AO3 as part of the Open Doors project. I tried to reach out to all creators about the move and posted announcements, but may not have reached everyone. If you are the creator and would like to claim this work, please contact me using the e-mail address on [Glass Onion’s collection profile](https://archiveofourown.org/collections/glassonion/profile).
> 
>  **Author's notes:** Double drabble written for the 15minuteficlets community on LJ. The whole idea of 15minuteficlets is to write the damn thing in fifteen minutes and post without looking back. Slightly edited after the fact.  
>  Spoilers: I guess if you haven't read The Farthest Shore or Tehanu, things may surprise you, even in a story this short. 'Cause it is canon.

  
Author's notes: Double drabble written for the 15minuteficlets community on LJ. The whole idea of 15minuteficlets is to write the damn thing in fifteen minutes and post without looking back. Slightly edited after the fact.  
Spoilers: I guess if you haven't read The Farthest Shore or Tehanu, things may surprise you, even in a story this short. 'Cause it is canon.  


* * *

Always Wakeful

 

## Always Wakeful

### by Victoria P.

Posted: Wednesday, September 17, 2003 8:55 AM 

* * *

Tenar wakes from the nightmare, heart racing and skin clammy. 

It is an old dream, that of the figures in the Painted Room, back at the Place of the Tombs, their mouths stopped with clay, their souls crumbled to dust. 

She reaches out, making sure Ged is still next to her. Warm, solid, comfortable. He is old now, and without magic. Their younger selves would have scorned these aged bodies -- weak, wrinkled, slowed with age. But there is hidden strength in the man next to her, muscles firm from climbing the narrow paths of Gont, chasing goats and fixing the roof, and there is power in his warmth. 

He stirs, wrapping an arm around her waist and pulling her close. "Tenar," he mumbles, voice thick with sleep, driving the nightmares away. 

"Ged," she answers, burying her face in his shoulder and inhaling in his scent, sweat and grass on his skin, a hint of apples on his breath. 

This has always been the bond between them -- he shows her what is real and what is illusion, while she provides him with a woman's true wisdom. He calls her by name and she follows; she calls him by his and his strength is hers to command. 

She drifts off to sleep, comforted. 

end 

* * *

victoria 

Achromatic: <http://www.unfitforsociety.net/musesfool> diary: <http://musesfool.diaryland.com> LJ: <http://musesfool.livejournal.com>

* * *

 

 

 

 

 

 

Fandom:  Other (Earthsea)   
Title:   **Always Wakeful**   
Author:   **Victoria P.**   [email]   
Details:   **Standalone**  |  **G**  |  **1k**  |  **02/14/04**   
Summary:  "Old age is always wakeful; as if, the longer linked with life, the less man has to do with aught that looks like death." Moby Dick, Herman Melville   
Notes:  Double drabble written for the 15minuteficlets community on LJ. The whole idea of 15minuteficlets is to write the damn thing in fifteen minutes and post without looking back. Slightly edited after the fact.   
Spoilers: I guess if you haven't read The Farthest Shore or Tehanu, things may surprise you, even in a story this short. 'Cause it is canon.   
Disclaimer: Earthsea belongs to Ursula LeGuin; this piece of fan-written fiction intends no infringement on any copyrights.   
Archive: Lists, Achromatic.   
Feedback: is such stuff as dreams are made on   
  



End file.
